Sumi Yakitori

It was another day when the search for food led us to town, this time, to Centrepoint in Orchard road. It was during the GSS season and we happened to chance upon this newly opened restaurant nestled in an inconspicuous corner of the enhanced Food Wing at Centrepoint. Touted as serving Yakitori (skewed delicacies) cooked in white charcoal, this Japanese restaurant also served cheap Ramen below $10. Me and my gf were the only people who went for the set meal that night.

Location: 176 Orchard Road B2 - 101/102/103/104

Contact: 6836-0912

Website: http://www.sumi.com.sg/index.html

Price Range: $25-30 per head

Special Set Menu for 2 ($45)

Seeing that everyone is having the Ramen here brought shudders to me which i can't quite explain, thus, we opted for the GSS set dinner which seemed like a good deal. @ $45 for 2 people, it falls in the mid range. However, compare it to the actual ala carte menu and its easily double the price if ordered item by item.

Mixed Sashimi

Another Look

The meal started with the mixed sashimi platter which came with squid, swordfish, salmon and tuna sashimi all in one plate. Everything on the platter was fresh and tasted sweet albeit being in a smaller portion. It still felt like a good value item though.

Tofu

The first grilled item to appear was the grilled tofu and to be honest, it was very average. Tasted slightly dry like dao pok and most of the taste was covered under thick teriyaki sauce.

8 Yakitori White Charcoal Grilled Sticks

Another Look

The sticks included 2 grill corns, 1 grilled enoki mushrooms wrapped in bacon, 1 grilled shittake mushroom, 2 grilled prawns and 1 grilled chicken meat ball. The grilled corn was sweet with a thin layer of butter for a salty finish while the bacon and enoki combination tasted fresh but was a little too difficult to chew through. The mushroom itself was juicy and tasty while the prawns were nicely grilled to a crispy finish with tasty and sweet meat. The chicken meatballs were the least memorable, being salty and overly peppery.

Japanese Organic Momotaro Tomato

This is a wonderful starter actually but was strangely served midway through the meal. The sauce is made up of a concoction that seems to be filled with mustard, peanut sauce, mayonnaise and maybe vegetable oil. The tomato went really well with it too and it should be noted that the tomato itself was firm, juicy, sweet and simply delectable. Something anyone can enjoy.

Chef's Appetiser

The chef's appetiser tastes like vermicelli tossed in thai sweet and sour sauce and is yet another tasty treat that shouldn't be missed.

Pan Seared Foie Gras With Ume Sauce

This sinful item came pretty late as well and to be honest, it tasted pretty well done. The inside were left springy and melts in your mouth while the outer covering of ume (cranberry) sauce enriched its taste on the outside. However, it was oily, very very oily.

Creme Brulee

This creme brulee had the thin layer of sugar burnt just right and tasted good without being too eggy on the inside. I found the vanilla taste just right for this and find it easy to recommend.

Black Sesame Gelato

One taste and you'll find this strong. The sesame taste is present throughout without overwhelming. It was the right sweetness and creamy to the end.

Bill

The total bill for 2 only came up to $57.67 which was great value for a meal with such variety and above average quality.

Overall Score: 7/10 (score for the set meal during GSS only.)

Last Word:
In the end, i'm glad i tried this place. It serves tasty charcoal grilled Japanese food at bargain prices. I do have gripes about the service and order of food served though. The appetisers did not come first and i had to call at least 3 times before my rice and foie gras was served. It was as though they didn't want to make a loss or something. Still, considering food quality, it definitely is value for menu in this offer. Ala carte and normal prices though...and i probably won't recommend when prices are back to normal.

Swenson's

Swenson's is a property pretty much everyone would have heard about. Began since 1948 over in San Francisco, Swenson's has since grown to encompass the Middle East, Asia and USA. Their outlets can be found easily in shopping malls and other outlets alike. For a place that began as a humble ice cream shop, it now boasts a menu all its own. Has time been kind on this franchise though?

Location: 4 Tampines Central 4 #03-03

Contact: 67815489

Price Range: $20 - 30 per head

Strawberry Sundae

Chicken Soup

Prawn And Fruit Salad

Chicken in a Jacket

Omelette With Salad and Fries

French Fries

Pesto Salmon Saute

Rodeo Wings

Clam Chowder

Ribeye Steak

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream with Chipsmore Cookie

Of all the items above, the ones i did try are the soup, which was pasty and starchy and also quite salty.
The prawn and fruit salad was pretty good albeit bland as it was only the taste of lettuce with prawns with little or no olive oil and vinegaritte. The good thing about it was that the prawns were crunchy.
The fries turned out to be the best item for this visit IMHO. Hot, slightly thick and not oily. It went well with the tartar sauce and chilli/tomato mixture as usual.
The rodeo wings came across as overfried and had too much flour thrown into the mix. The rodeo aka spicy chili sauce felt tagged on and not the authentic smoked rodeo wings it should be.
My main course was the ribeye steak which i ordered medium rare but came well done. There was also an abundance of the fatty layer which meant a huge part of the meat could not be consumed. The meat tasted tough and lacked any form of beefy taste which i would have expected.
The cookies and cream ice cream was another disappointment in it being close to tasteless. At least it was sweet though.

Overall Score: 5.75/10

Last Word:
I'm quite disappointed frankly but at the very least, it did not deteriorate to the point of Jack's Place which i've completely sworn off. Also, i have to thank my 2 colleagues for giving me a treat for this as otherwise, i may not have had the chance to try it again. The way it stands now, its a safe bet to say that improvements are definitely needed but its still not beyond redemption.